110 NORTH SEA INVESTIGATIONS. 



2 solenettes ; 3 Trachunis vipcra, the lesser weever ; 2 thornback rays, 

 8 in. to 0^ in. across pectorals ; 1 long rough dab, 9 in. long. 



Plaice up to 24 in. and 2G in. in length occurred in these hauls, 

 and as in the above instance only an insignificant number under 10 in., 

 which were thrown overboard. 



After this a haul was made 7 or 8 miles to the east of the Dowsing 

 Lightship, at a depth of 9 to 11 fathoms. The marketable fish caught 

 were: — 1^ baskets plaice, 1^ baskets lemon soles, codling, and haddock 

 mixed ; 2 rays, 2 brill 23| in. long. The largest plaice was 24 in., 

 and 4 plaice of 9 in. were thrown overboard. 



There was an extraordinary quantity of Alcyonidmm, or "curly 

 cabbage," about 1-^ basketfuls, the scruff consisting almost entirely of 

 this. One horse mussel {Mytihts modiolus), and 2 sunstars were 

 seen. 



At the next haul the trawl was down G hours, from 9 p.m., 

 July 26th, to 3 a.m., July 27th. A still greater quantity of Alcyoni- 

 dium, was brought up — 3 or 4 basketfuls. The fish were : — 2 baskets 

 plaice, f basket kit haddock, | basket lemon soles and whiting, | 

 basket dabs and codling, 14 soles, largest ISi-in., smallest 7in. ; 2 

 cod, 1 ray, 8 crabs. 



A basket of plaice is rather more than half a boxful, as the 

 boxes are packed for sale, and the number in a basketful may 

 therefore be estimated at about 50 fish. 



Only two short hauls of no importance were made after this on the 

 same ground, and then we returned to Grimsby. 



It will be seen that the grounds visited in this voyage were all 

 too far from the English coast to be considered as corresponding to the 

 grounds visited in the s.s. John Bull. The nearest of them is the 

 Outer Dowsing Ground ; the Outer Dowsing Light is 30 miles from the 

 nearest coast, and we fished on the farther side of the Lightship. The 

 depth off the Dowsing was scarcely greater than off the Island of Amrum. 

 "We sounded 11 fathoms, and, doubtless, trawled in shallower water 

 than that. The other grounds are narrow gullies, surrounded by fairly 

 level ground less than 20 fathoms in depth. In the character of 

 the bottom, these grounds differ very greatly from those visited in both 

 my voyages on the German side. The latter were nearly all sandy, and 

 very little scruff was brought up: pieces of Flustra foliacea, and 

 truncata, and Hydrallmania were entangled in the net, but the total 

 bulk was inconsiderable. On the English Grounds, on the contrary, 

 the quantity of scruff was enormous, and indicates a coarse varied 

 ground of stones and shells. 



With regard to the character of the fish, the grounds above described 

 resemble those to the south of the Horn Ileef Lights, a voyage to which 



